Update : 30 March 2006
Place : Chimoio/Mozambique
Day : 166
Distance traveled : 24,775km

Before getting on with the Malawi update I want to correct a mistake I made in the last part of the Uganda report and add something to the previous part of the Tanzania update.

At the end of last Uganda update, if you remember, I mentioned the few days I spent in Kisoro while waiting for the border gate to open. Not long ago, I received an e-mail from the Polish mountaineer Jacek whom I met at the hotel in Kisoro. In his e-mail he wrote that the mountain he climbed wasn't Karisimbi (4,507m) but in fact Muhavura (4,100m). And he added: "I haven't planned to go to Rwanda or Congo either." Jacek, I apologize for the mistake I made with the name of the mountain. But when I said those waiting to cross over to Rwanda and Congo like myself I didn't mean Jacek. He was going to do his climb and leave. Anyway, I made a mistake in conveying the information he gave me and he misunderstood the other matter about wanting to cross over to Rwanda. So now we are even. I hope I didn't commit another faux pas while guessing his age.

Let's move on to the next topic. In the first part of the Tanzania update I talked about the "wildebeest" (I spelt it as "wildbeest" in the update, beginning to make so many mistakes now, aren't I?). I wrote that I didn't know the Turkish name for wildebeest and that I would appreciate help from those who knew it. Thankfully a few observant and fastidious readers have written to me and let me know that the Turkish term used for the wildebeest is "öküz başlı antilop" (antelope with an ox-like head). That's right! If I remember correctly that's what they called them in a documentary I watched on National Geographic channel. Many thanks to those that sent me this info.

Malawi
I entered Malawi from the border gate in Songwe at about 11:00 on Saturday, 18 March. Malawi doesn't request visa from many European and African countries but Turkey is not in that list. If you haven't obtained a visa previously, they hand you a document at the border and tell you to apply to the Immigration Office in Mzuzu (for those who enter the country from Tanzania border) and get your visa within five days. Otherwise you will be treated as someone who entered the country illegally. Mzuzu is about 290km from the border and it is a medium sized city. It is right on my travel route in Malawi so this visa issue doesn't require a change in the program or any other special effort. Malawi is a small country. The most important place in the must-see list is the Lake Malawi, (also known as Lake Nyassa) which covers 15% of the total area of Malawi and occupies most of the country's eastern border, stretching from north to south. This lake is also the most southerly body of water in the Great Rift Valley. It is 585 km long and 100 km at its widest point. Its shores form a border with Tanzania on the east and its southern shores form a border with Mozambique. The area of the water from the point where the Mozambique border starts is divided equally between Mozambique and Malawi. But Tanzania's border is along the shores of the lake on the Tanzania side. Meaning, Malawi Border Police requests for passport from those who get in the lake in Tanzania. :)

Before I move on to my memoirs of Malawi I want to touch upon the history of the country a little. The current name of Malawi was derived from Maravi, a kingdom that began to rule in 14th century over the region which includes the southern part of Malawi, northern part of Mozambique and the eastern part of Zambia today. Its capital was based in central Malawi and it was run by the Kalonga dynasty system; its economy was based on agriculture and trade. The kingdom had its golden era during the reign of Chief Masula in 1600 - 1650. Masula maintained strong alliance with the Portuguese and by the time he died Malawi borders reached all the way up to the shores of Mozambique Island. During his reign the Portuguese were a bit apprehensive of the Maravi and they refrained from upsetting them. It is only when the Chief Masula met his god, that the Portuguese had their stroke of fortune; they began to slowly invade and divide the country. Each part established their own kalonga dynasty, called the Undi. However, Portuguese still managed to maintain their position on the coastline and did not move inland much. They preferred to exploit - initially- the gold and ivory resources by engaging in trade relations with the local kingdom(s). Later when "world slave markets" experienced a boom, they joined forces with the local entrepreneurs who were familiar with this resource.

When Oman Sultan Said captured Mombasa in 1824, the Portuguese dominance in Eastern Africa weakened considerably. Sultan moved the capital from Muskat to Zanzibar and Oman Arabs gained control of the majority of the east African trade. Slave trade which was the most important trade practice at the time grew exponentially during this period. It is said that, as West Africa's slave production was not sufficient to meet the demand, slaves were being shipped from this region to the developing New World "America" and even to Brazil, thanks to the Portuguese. Hence, the effort to meet the high demand experienced globally turned Malawi into one of the most important sources for slaves. Zanzibari Arabs equipped Yaos with weapons and were given "purchase guarantee" for the slaves they have captured. Still, Yaos sold thousands of slaves they have captured to the Portuguese from time to time, hence creating a demand based on competition. Captured slaves would be brought to the west shore of Lake Malawi and when their numbers reached 1,000 they would be sent to the other side of the lake, and from here they begin their walk to Kilwa on the ocean coast. This was an extremely difficult walk that would take three to four months before the slaves reached Kilwa. Once in Kilwa the males would be castrated and then sold in the market. In the eastern market castrated slaves were more valuable. Of course it is to protect the harem... But so why would the customer pay more for the castrated slaves? Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy one and then castrate them later? Well, apparently it's not like that. A significant number of the men who were castrated under "sterile" conditions at that time would die due to infections. The ones that survive the ordeal would then be sold. How good is that?! Just like livestock trade, isn't it? Maybe the slave trader and his customer had dialogues that went like:

"I sent you 10,000 male slaves. 6,000 of them were wasted on the way. 1,500 of the remaining 4,000 died during castration. 500 of them is my gift to you. For the remaining 2,000 I will charge you 10 gold pieces each, which totals up to 20,000 gold. Kindly, EFT the money to my account please."
This is what Malawian people had to go through for many years. They assumed it was the universal rule.
"One night our village will be raided. Like the others they will kill some and then take some of us with them. Those who are left behind will never know the fate of us as they wait for the day they will be taken..."

19th century was a bloody period for the Malawians. On one side there were the Yaos, then the Arabs and the Portuguese waiting for the Yaos to deliver their slaves to them, and on the other side there were the Ngonis who carried out massacres wherever they went.

This situation continued until David Livingstone's expedition in 1853-1856 during which he traveled across Africa from West to East and the famous Zambezi expedition which began (or was planned to begin) in 1858. So then who is this David Livingstone? He was born in 1813 at Blantyre in Scottland; studied medicine in Glasgow University then received missionary training in London Missionary Society and came to Africa as a missionary.

Livingstone put much effort into bringing an end to the practice of slave trade in Malawi. According to him colonialism, commerce and Christianity could put a stop on the slave trade. Despite all his efforts he failed to succeed in his mission. Slave trade in Malawi came to an end 21 years after his death in 1895 when the last slave trader Mlozi was captured and executed by the units of first Commissioner and Consul General Sir Harry Johnston.

Of course this is not the entire history of Malawi; there are also periods of colonization and independence. But for now, I will leave it at the slave trade period to be able to convey the sorrowful history of the Malawians and how they have come to be a fatalistic society.

Chitimba
My first stop is Chitimba, a small town on the northern shore of Lake Malawi. It is marked as a town on the map but calling it a town would be doing injustice to other towns. I will be generous enough by calling it a biggish village. I actually stopped by Sangilo Sanctuary Lodge just before Chitimba. It is also right on the lakeshore and it was recommended by the Dutch couple I met at Genesis Motel in Mikumi. This bungalow - motel is run by a Scottish woman and an Israeli man. It is very clean and charming but the prices are over my budget: USD55.00, breakfast not included. I guess I will prefer to stay at Chitimba Camp Site. It is a much frequented stopover by the overland truck/bus hybrid vehicles operated by various tourism companies, especially, of South African origin. It is a camp site but it also has a few bungalows. They call these "huts" around here; and I think that's a fair call. And since it is on the shore and has a beach as well, the decision was made. I set my GPS to the coordinates of the campsite and pointed the car in that direction. When you get there and follow the sign with an arrow that points to the reception, you find yourself at a spacious open outdoor area with a thatch roof. It has a bar, restaurant and lounge sections with couches, divans, armchairs, chairs, tables as well as cushions on the floor. On the walls there are African masks, batik artwork, photos, notice boards, posters... It has a long bar and beach is right in front of it. Awesome! It looks like a nice place... There is no one. I look around; I see a foot sticking out of one of the bamboo couches that is facing away from me. I walk that way; if the "guest" stretched out on the couch is not asleep I will ask them where I can find the receptionist. When I step around to the front of the couch I see another "guest" lying down on another couch facing the other way. Both are looking at me like "where did this guy come from?" "I am sorry to disturb you but I need to find the receptionist, do you know where they are?" I ask. The one whose leg is hanging over the back of the couch said "We are it, you need something?" My sarcastic self thought to say "No, I just wanted to see how you are doing and then leave." But frankly their "cool" attitude appealed to me. I said "I was going to ask if you have any rooms available?" Theonewithhisfoothangingoverthecouch said "The huts are over there; doors are open, go have a look, pick one you like." These guys are so cool I began to feel a little chilled, despite the 36°C heat... Anyway, from a line of adjacent huts I picked a self-contained (has a shower and toilet in the room) one. They are not in a great condition but it is much better than putting up a tent. If it is cheap enough, I can stay for two nights. I tell theonewiththisfoothangingoverthecouch the number of the room and ask him the rate. He asks in return "Is USD12.00 fine?" I hesitate "It's a bit expensive but..." "Ok then you can pay USD10.00." Aww, why thank you. In the meantime the other one got up and went behind the bar. I guess he wanted to show that they work here. Seeing this I headed up to the bar and asked for a cold beer to keep my internals from overheating. "We couldn't get the generator to work. So we don't have any cold beer" said theonewithhisfoothangingoverthecouch. "No worries, give me one anyway." He made a face "Warm beer? There's no way I'd drink that." "So then," I said "would you get upset if I brought some of mine from the fridge in my car?" "Not at all! If you have any to spare bring two more. I'll give you two of ours when they are cold in the evening." Cool! So our conversation began. Two South Africans. The blonde one behind the bar is John. The other one, the "colored" one couldn't be bothered to introduce himself. Still lying stretched out on the couch anyway, theonewithhisfoothangingoverthecouch. The term "colored" is used for people of mixed race, black - white or the Indian - black combinations. Black - white combination usually comes from white father and black mother (occasionally white mother and black father)... Indian - black combination is always from an Indian father and black mother. (This piece of information has been received from Mr. Stuart M. Grant whose name will appear here again in a little while)... Our onewithhisfoothangingoverthecouch is of black-white origin. I am not sure which parent was black and which one white.

In the evening a truck/bus full of crazy overlanders arrive. So much noise and commotion. One of them is a guy I met during the wait at the Uganda - Rwanda border. And now he is on this tour. Some people are always on the move as you can see. After dinner I retired to my hut. Sound of the waves, moonlight and the stars, truly magnificent.

Sunset at Lake Malawi. Well, the sun set behind me. I was facing the east as I took this picture.

The next morning I grab my camping gear out of the car; chair, table, stove, plates, cutlery and food for breakfast. I make myself a scrumptious breakfast. I usually enjoy a long breakfast on Sunday mornings. Add to that the newspapers... Joy! Well I don't have the chance to get my newspapers here but I have the puzzles which Buket collected for me, from Radikal, the Turkish newspaper. Today I think I will go through three or four of those puzzles. It is quite hot but there is a bit of a breeze at the "verandah" of my hut.


Sunday breakfast in front of my hut. No, I wasn't a crazy nutter sitting in the sun like that. I moved out into the sun for the photo.

Today I will work on my updates some and will just laze around. I retreat back into the shade just outside my hut. I was there till the evening. I wrote, read, and solved puzzles, cooked (since the stove reappeared). In the meantime I chatted with a fellow countryman:


"My fellow countryman" Medson!

Medson Ngwira is an 18 year old Malawian kid. If he can find the money he wants to continue his education. He was working in the garden next to the campsite. When I saw the t-shirt he was wearing I walked up to him. He told me he bought it in the market. The way it works is, second hand or defective goods (either bought or collected as "donations") from all over the world are brought here in big bags (actually anywhere in Africa) and sold in the markets. There are many people around the world who engage in this kind of international trade activity. It looks like Medson liked this shirt with the crescent and the star. Medson is looking for a pen-pal to correspond with in English. Here is his address for those who might be interested:

Medson Ngwira
P.O. Box 4
Chitimba, Rumphi
Malawi

I tucked into my food stocks for lunch and dinner so the day ended up being relatively inexpensive. The next morning I will be visiting Chitimba Primary School. I found out that they have a flag ceremony at 06:45. I have to sleep early.

I woke up at 06:15 in the morning, shaved and put on clean clothes. I don't want to show up in front of the kids looking ragged. I was at the school at 06:45 sharp. When I arrived the children were cleaning the school inside and around the school. Here the students are responsible for cleaning up the school and their surroundings. They all have their brooms in their hands sweeping the ground while their older brothers and sisters in senior classes are supervising. When they saw me of course they all forgot about cleaning up. One of the teachers saved me by pulling me out of the tight ring of children. A little later the "head teacher" arrived. They don't use the term principal here. They took me to the head teacher's office; all the teachers came and introduced themselves to me. Then the traditional Monday morning ceremony began. Head teacher's speech was followed by the students' march into their classrooms with their teachers.


In the morning, the students are listening to the speech given by the head teacher with "great interest"


I must have been more interesting than the speech for this girl.

Head teacher also had a class to teach so he left me with another teacher to take me to the classes. The first one I visited was third grade. The kids don't have tables and chairs; teacher doesn't have a desk… I think until fourth grade, students sit on the floor in class.


Frank Kamanga and his students in third grade

Then I visited a mathematics class of one of the higher grades. Here the children were sitting at desks. In every classroom I visited the teachers asked me to tell the kids about Turkey and my travels. I was happy to oblige. They all listened intently what I had to say.


Head teacher Harry W. Chainga, quickly drew up a map and marked Turkey on it. On that map I told the children briefly about Turkey and my trip.

There are a total of 895 students, 8 classes and that many classrooms in the school. Some classes have anything up to 120 - 140 students. I gave to the head teacher 80 - 90 of the pencils I had with me, to give away to the good students as a reward. On April 7th the school term will end. "This will be an opportunity for us to reward those who have done well" the headmaster Harry W. Chainga said. It was only pencils that I gave him.

I said goodbye to these beautiful people and got back on the road towards Mzuzu. I thought of the primary school I visited at a remote village in Sudan. The students there at least had desks and chairs to sit on, and didn't have to sit on the floor.

Visa procedures took about half an hour in Mzuzu. After I got the visa I found an internet café to check my e-mails. What happened next is an example to how naive the Malawians are: The first internet café I walk into I ask the price; the girl tells me it is thirty Malawi Kwachas per minute. One USD is 135 Kwachas so that means for one dollar I can get on the net for about 4.5 minutes. I ask her why it is so expensive. She replies "There is another internet café over there. They charge twenty Kwachas there," and she even goes outside and points to the other internet café. I find myself unable to say anything and walk towards the cheaper internet café.

From here I will go to Nkhata Bay, further down south and again on the shores of Lake Malawi. The shores of Nkhata Bay presents the lowest risk of Bilharzia, also known as Schistosomiasis (I don't know the Turkish term for this one either, maybe there isn't one). Bilharzia is a common disease that occurs in the fresh waters especially in the Sub-Saharan tropical regions. It is caused by parasitic worms that penetrate the skin and reproduce in the blood vessels. One of the symptoms is high fever. If not treated properly there is no way to get rid of these worms. There is risk of catching this disease not only by swimming in the infected waters but by showering or bathing with the infected water or wearing clothes washed by the infected water, not ironed properly and not left to dry in the direct sun.

I am enjoying the slow ride from Mzuzu to Nkhata along the winding roads through the forest. At one point from the open window I heard a clink as if a metal piece of something fell off the car. I parked the car somewhere safe on the side of the road and checked under the car, as far as I could reach but I couldn't see anything wrong or missing. I walked about 100-150m back to where I heard the sound. I checked the road and both sides of the road and couldn't find anything. I thought to myself "Maybe I drove over something made of metal". Got back in the car and drove on.

Nkhata Bay
Since there is no risk of disease in the Nkhata Bay, I will get in the water and see the famous cichlid fish. I have never known about or even heard of the cichlid fish. A friend of mine sent me the information he found on the internet. And since I came all the way here, I wanted to have a close look at this fish. There is a little bit of information about it in my guidebook. Apparently it is well known and can be found in Lake Malawi as well as a few lakes in Eastern Africa. The books says this fish has become almost extinct in Lake Victoria, which is one of those few lakes and the "real" cichlid fish only comes out of Lake Malawi and is sent to the rest of the world. And it is claimed people can't get enough of viewing the colorful ones under water. Well, I have already chased after chimpanzees, gorillas, red colobus monkey, golden canary, violets, etc. So why not the cichlid fish?

After leaving the asphalt paved the roads of Nkhata Bay become dirt roads. The high and frequent rain fall transformed these dirt roads into off-road race courses. Deep holes and cracks, mud pools, sharp dips... It is a great opportunity to test the car. The test results for my car aren't so good. No matter how slowly I drive on the bumpy and rough areas, the back of the car is still bouncing like a '59 Impala. It is obvious that the shock absorbers are not doing their job. I guess the spares that I put on in Kenya weren't as sturdy as the originals. I have only covered a distance of 12,000km and besides the usual bumps on the dirt roads they haven't received a serious blow. Anyway, I guess I need to enter the bumps and potholes with a 10kmph speed. Or I will have to put one of those bobble head dogs at the back, like in the old Impalas.

Nkhata consists of two small bays: Nkhata Bay and Ilala Bay. The local population is mostly concentrated around the Nkhata Bay. These are two little bays surrounded by the forest. It is an ideal place for those who want a peaceful, quiet and inexpensive holiday. Actually this side of Lake Malawi is absolutely beautiful from one end to the other.


The closer one is Ilala Bay, and the one at the background Nkhata Bay

I will be staying at Njaya Lodge consisting of bamboo chalets set on terraces made of stones. It is situated right behind the Ilala Bay among the trees. Some of the Chalets are self-contained with toilets and showers inside but those are all at the back and have no lake views because of the trees in front of them. I picked one from the ones at the very front which means I will have to use the common toilet and shower but there is no one else staying at the motel other than myself. As you know, it is the rainy season. Meanwhile, I forgot to tell you, every day we have at least one session of torrential rain. Sometimes it is pours down two, three or more times. Each session lasts anywhere between half an hour upto a few hours. The owner of Njaya Lodge is from England also. We didn't get a chance to meet since he went to England on a holiday. While people come here to spend their holidays, he goes to England as it is quiet during the off season.


My hut...


...and the view from it. The water among those rocks you see down there is swarming with cichlid fish.

In Malawi all of the tourist facilities that I have personally seen or read about in the book are owned and run by foreign nationals: mostly English, Scottish or Irish. And the locals work for them. I asked Dickson, who was the bartender/waiter/kitchen supervisor all-in-one at the motel, why there weren't any Malawian entrepreneurs. The reason is of course money. They don't have enough money to open a business even if a few of them get together and combine their funds. Of course there is the issue of management culture. The concept of service of this caliber is not something that is compatible with the life style the Malawians are used to. Dickson told me that they run a "hospitality services" course together with his brother, who is also the chef at the hotel, and a few of their friends who have experience in the tourism sector, as often as their budget and time schedules allow them. He said that among those who live locally and wish to find themselves employment in the tourism sector the ones who have the means to do so enroll in these courses and pursue a career that way. The fish that I had for dinner (that Dickson's brother had cooked) made me think that those who receive chef training from these guys won't really stand much of a chance in their chosen career.


Mr. Dickson Mzimo Phiri. Bartender/waiter/kitchen supervisor/...

Here (and generally everywhere in Malawi) agriculture is the major source of income. When the weather goes well it means they can feed themselves and everyone is happy. If it doesn't rain and there is a drought (or the opposite, if it rains too much and the floods damage the crops) then they go hungry. They fish just enough to feed themselves. They don't pick and choose, whatever they catch they eat. I saw children catching the colorful cichlid fish, when asked why they said they were catching them to eat. There are these little fish called usipa sold in the markets; I think they are sun-dried. Nearly all the fishermen use these long slim boats that are carved from tree trunks and look like giant bananas.


"Banana" boat

You won't need diving equipment to see the cichlid fish in the water. I had the opportunity to view them among the rocks near the shore with my prescription snorkel. When it is sunny they get even closer to the shore. Especially the yellow and bright navy blue ones are beautiful to look at. I can't tell the differences between them but apparently there are hundreds of species of cichlids.

After my second night in Nkhata, Wednesday morning on March 22 I get on the road to Salima, my next stop on the shores of Lake Malawi. After Nkhata the road winds through the forests, but this time through the rubber forests. These rubber forests consist of para rubber trees planted to produce real natural rubber. Thousands of trees, tapped by a slice in a spiral to drain the sap (called latex) which is the raw material for rubber, little metal channels stuck on the tree at the end of the spiral and containers tied to the tree for the collection of latex. At school when I saw the photo of it in the geography books I was fascinated. Now I am looking at the real thing. Who would have thought?!





Rubber collected from thousands of trees, drop by drop

This is a rubber plantation and it is run by a private company. The collected rubber is then processed and exported.

I think will stop here. I have actually completed a large portion of the next part but if I wait till I finish the whole thing, time will fly and before I know it the update will be delayed and also the file size will be too large to upload given the internet situation around here. So I better complete the first part of the Malawi update.

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